The most futile and disastrous day seems well spent when it is reviewed through the blue, fragrant smoke of a Cigar. Evelyn Waugh

Exploring not just the extraordinary story of tobacco and cigars but also a history that has been instrumental in the foundations of societies and cultures, Cigars will take you on an astonishing journey through landscapes, scents and an incredible roll call of the great, the good and the not-so good. The cigar has provided solace and a chance for worldly contemplation to generations of thinkers, businessmen, writers, entrepreneurs and connoisseurs.

In this elegiac offering to the pinnacles of hand-rolled tobacco, world-renowned expert Nicholas Foulkes guides you through the myths, legends, nuances and delicious realities of the smoke-savouring universe, serving as an introduction for the neophyte and a reference for the connoisseur.

A cigar ought not to be smoked solely with the mouth, but with the hand, the eyes, and with the spirit. Zino Davidoff